tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18676999.post124380123574222130..comments2024-02-27T01:52:06.519-08:00Comments on Kent's Bike Blog: Bike Talk: Do I Keep On Truckin'?Kent Petersonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12906603746565831689noreply@blogger.comBlogger12125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18676999.post-5463734389960100992012-07-31T07:06:40.616-07:002012-07-31T07:06:40.616-07:00My Surly girls love each other, but they don't...My Surly girls love each other, but they don't respect me!Big Love Dummynoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18676999.post-56523003306814995802012-07-31T04:20:21.838-07:002012-07-31T04:20:21.838-07:00"Remember, no matter how nice the Surly is, i..."Remember, no matter how nice the Surly is, it probably doesn't love you back." Are you sure you aren't underestimating the bicycle?<br /><br />Written on behalf of my two very different both beloved bikes, neither of which has much in the way of English skills.Suzehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02239061606614863185noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18676999.post-67345100268810497872012-07-29T08:03:48.172-07:002012-07-29T08:03:48.172-07:00Another Thoreau quote: "It is a great art to...Another Thoreau quote: "It is a great art to saunter".GravelDochttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07066742071278722366noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18676999.post-77001471509293271322012-07-26T15:16:36.055-07:002012-07-26T15:16:36.055-07:00I agree that riding like others can also be fun. I...I agree that riding like others can also be fun. I'm as transportationally luddite as any and more than most but also enjoy ripping it up with the dudes as often as I can. It's a different kind of biking that adds richness to the one I love most. <br /><br />I don't think that defining yourself as one type of cyclist is that helpful if it keeps you from riding with the people you would like to ride with. My son loves ripping it up at the skate park and on the mtb trails and this has significantly changed my riding interests. Yes, I'm looking for a BMX or a mountain bike just so I can share it with him? Do I identify with BMX culture? Nope, but I do love riding with my son.<br /><br />There is wrinkle in this that if you show up to a ride with the period correct bike, you have some leeway in the way that you address the group. For instance, I ride with the fast guys sometimes on a light single speed and sometimes with my road bike which is a bone stock low end 80's Trek with downtube shifters. Perhaps I'm dissing the group, but perhaps I'm just communicating my apartness from the group. Showing up with a touring bike would be one standard deviation further away. If you beat everyone, then by golly, that's one additional standard deviation further. There is a line between deviancy and strangeness, though.<br /><br />A cheap aluminum racing bike is perfect for tearing it up because everybody used to have one so they comprehend, has no technical impediments, and keeps your main money on the bike you love most. <br /><br />You aren't committing heresy by riding a different bike that doesn't as closely define you. Spandex also, is not the enemy. Sometimes, it's really just fun to dress up alike, ride alike, and play together.<br /><br />Surly's are a tribe. Riv's are a tribe. Carbon is a tribe. Mountain has many tribes. Be pan-tribal.bradhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08446559369990216386noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18676999.post-62373309944031451722012-07-26T10:40:44.761-07:002012-07-26T10:40:44.761-07:00This might be blasphemy but perhaps he should look...This might be blasphemy but perhaps he should look into an ebike conversion kit to attack the hills. :^) There is an older gentlemen that I see on my commute to work often and although he rides a comfort pace on his trusty looking commuter with racks, bags and a basket during the flats, when he sees some aggressive roadies, he lets them pass and then blows by them on the hills with his ebike conversion kit. ;^) He always lets the roadies pass him again at the top of the hill but its hilarious to watch them chase him and then give him incredulous looks as he politely waves, sheepishly smiles, and humbly rings his bell. :^)Loganenatorhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02882099683550015237noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18676999.post-71479303859957466032012-07-26T09:58:46.933-07:002012-07-26T09:58:46.933-07:00Surly LHTs come with slow stiff tires and a lot of...Surly LHTs come with slow stiff tires and a lot of bike tourists put slow stiff tires on their LHTs.<br /><br />I put fast rubber on my GF's Surly Cross Check and I have slow rubber on my LHT. She's never been able to stay with me on climbs before, but now the lower rolling resistance of those tires gives her the edge she needs to keep up.<br /><br />If Joseph has slow rubber on his LHT I would suggest fitting something like a Grand Bois tire in 700c or 26" as appropriate or the Schwalbe Kojak as available in both sizes. He'll be markedly faster and the bike will be more comfortable to ride. <br /><br />Just don't overinflated the tires or you'll lose much of the potential benefit.<br /><br />safe riding,<br /><br />Vik<br />www.thelazyrando.comVikhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07214932277372519931noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18676999.post-51472630699212548832012-07-25T13:38:21.040-07:002012-07-25T13:38:21.040-07:00Kent, great post especially loved the Thoreau quo...Kent, great post especially loved the Thoreau quote, had to stop and go back a re-read it to let it resonate. I would echo what you and a few other commentators have said, find an older lighter road frame for the "go fast" rides if that is what you want to try. I find it perfectly acceptable own more that one bike. I have a Handsome Devil (much like a LHT) with fat tires, racks and fenders for all round riding and a late 70's Miyata 910 for going "fast". I got the Miyata for $20 at a yard sale, put another $100 into it and its a nice lean mean machine for road riding.<br /><br />Love the bike talk btw keep it up!<br /><br />RyanRoadieRyanhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15900109046198641775noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18676999.post-70061317303561103212012-07-25T12:02:32.021-07:002012-07-25T12:02:32.021-07:00Kent's point is simple: want to ride with the ...Kent's point is simple: want to ride with the faster folks now and then, buy a cheap fast bike for those rides. Doesn't mean you can't enjoy the Surly all the rest of the time!<br /><br />Even an expensive bike is relatively cheap, and old fast bikes are very cheap and still fast. Bikes don't take up much room, so it's not too bad to have two. Why, doesn't the Mountain Turtle himself have three or four?Richard Risemberghttp://www.bicyclefixation.comnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18676999.post-48377235105885767212012-07-25T11:13:36.150-07:002012-07-25T11:13:36.150-07:00Great post. Kent, I am enjoying this series of pos...Great post. Kent, I am enjoying this series of posts, too.<br /><br />As someone who has both a LHT and a road bike, I have to kind of disagree with Iron Rider a bit. When I ride my road bike (a Bianchi Imola -- steel, BTW) for a while, then go for a longer ride on the LHT, it's always astounding how much slower I am on the LHT. On many hills I would hammer up on the road bike, I have to spin up very slowly on the LHT. The LHT is great for slower, rambling rides and it's great for mixed-terrain rides, too. The Imola is good to keep up with friends on faster bikes or when I just want to go faster (which often, but not always, equals more fun).<br /><br />I like both laid back and faster styles of riding, but prefer the Imola if I know I'll be on pavement. Not only can I go faster, but I can ride longer distances with the same effort. I don't care much about speed, but it can be a factor. .Apertomehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00148516503920019073noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18676999.post-58138873033613591202012-07-25T07:09:22.029-07:002012-07-25T07:09:22.029-07:00Thoreau didn't have a girlfriend, nor a bicycl...Thoreau didn't have a girlfriend, nor a bicycle. Of the two, though, we can be confident he'd choose the bike. <br /><br />It's also safe to assume ol' Hank wouldn't be rocking flourescent lycra on his jaunts to Walden Pond. I kind of imagine him on a rusty Schwinn cantilever frame with cheap mtb tires. Probably found it in Ralph Waldo's junk heap.<br /><br />So, if Thoreau is our style guide, I'd suggest dumping the Surly bike AND the surly girl.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18676999.post-41674642869530062312012-07-25T06:15:41.375-07:002012-07-25T06:15:41.375-07:00Kent, I'm enjoying the Bike Talk posts. It'...Kent, I'm enjoying the Bike Talk posts. It's a fun idea and you are doing a fine job with it. As for this particular topic, I am an owner of an LHT and I think one more point should be made: when it comes to bike speed, the rider makes far more difference than the bike. If Joseph from Cyberspace only rides long rides at mountain turtle paces, then switching bikes for weekend hammerfests is not likely to make a big difference. If you want to ride fast you have to ride faster in preparation. If you want to attack hills you have to prepare with hard hills. I know of what I speak. MY LHT has gotten significantly faster as I have ridden it faster. When it comes to speed, the engine counts more than the frame. <br />Keep on Truckin' indeed.Iron Riderhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/18009140265170387540noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18676999.post-64159885444620132262012-07-25T05:58:00.725-07:002012-07-25T05:58:00.725-07:00Brilliant post, Kent, and really illustrates thing...Brilliant post, Kent, and really illustrates things. A good friend loves RAGBRAI and charity rides, but the thought of riding in a group of 500 people - let alone 25,000 - makes me go into convulsions. <br /><br />Yet, I'll still ride with him, when he rides gravel roads or desolate trails. <br /><br />Like the poster I too have a Long Haul Trucker and it's been my only bike for going on three years now, and I'm fine with that. It's a amazingly versatile and tough as nails rig that has seen me through the best and the worst of times. It won't hang with the fast groups as much as I try, and I'm sure if I got a Madone I'd be doing just fine but for me.. what fun is that?Benhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00031247407797525883noreply@blogger.com